Who doesn't take a selfie at work, especially when you've just done something really awesome, like dig up a mummy, for example? 55-year-old Celestino Reyna only did just that, but his photograph at work got him suspended.
The Spanish gravedigger had posted a creepy picture of him with an exhumed corpse, which understandably went viral and when the officials at the cemetery in Guardamar del Segura, near Alicante on the Costa Blanca in Southern Spain heard about the stunt, they suspended him.
The cemetery worker dug up the mummified body of a man who has been dead for 23 years, so that his recently deceased wife could be added to the family tomb in Guardamar del Segura, reported The Local. The niece of the deceased, who arranged for the extension of the grave, apparently took the photo of Reyna along with the rotting corpse and her husband, who can also be seen smiling in the said picture.
Gravedigger suspended after chilling picture with mummified rotting corpse http://t.co/kgdNANA9sN pic.twitter.com/XpJKYI1oYf
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) September 12, 2014
This picture, which was then forwarded to a family member via WhatsApp, got shared around pretty quickly and went viral on social media. The town hall of Guardamar del Segura, found out about the photo, which shows Reyna wearing his official blue polo shirt, lightly covered in dust from the body, emblazoned with the town's coat-of-arms, and launched an investigation into Reyna, before suspending him and referring the case to the Civil Guard police force.
The niece, who took the picture told the Mirror that she didn't mean to upset anyone and said she just wanted to show the dead man's sister how his body had been mummified. She added, "We never thought this could have such serious consequences, and I did not want to show any lack of respect for my uncle."
A spokesperson from town hall said, "It was silliness with no justification whatsoever and we will have to take a decision." Reyna has since been repositioned in another role at the council during the duration of the investigation.
Local councillor Felipe Aldeguer said that Reyna never acted in 'bad faith' and he has just "foolishly agreed to" what the family of the dead man instigated. "It appears to be a one-off error of judgement rather than a systematic form of behaviour. It's a silly mistake and although there's no justification for it and there will be consequences, we do not need to go overboard," Aldeguer stated.